It's over for mad Mario

Mario Balotelli is sent off as Roberto Mancini sees Manchester City's title hopes go up in smoke

I’m finished with him. We have six games left and he will not play in them

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini

Balotelli was sent-off for the third time this season as City’s title dreams collapsed thanks to a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal.

Mancini says he now intends to sell the Italian hothead this summer – and warned the for- ward risks seeing his career ruined within two years unless he changes his madcap ways.

The City boss said: “Right now I’m very sorry because he is wasting his talent and I hope he can see if he carries on like this he will ruin his future.

“I’m finished with him. We have six games left and he will not play in them.”

Asked if he would be selling Balotelli, he said: “Probably. “He is the sort of player who can score in the last minute but every time he plays we risk having a man sent off.”

As well as being dismissed in stoppage-time for a second caution, both coming for fouls on Bacary Sagna, Mancini said Balotelli should have been shown a straight red for a challenge on Alex Song in the 20th minute, which saw him rake his studs on the midfielder’s knee.

Ref Martin Atkinson did not even award a foul, but the FA look poised to take retrospective action, meaning Balotelli could be suspended for half a dozen games.

Balotelli’s dismissal came shortly after Mikel Arteta bagged an 87th-minute winner for Arsenal, which sent them back into third place.

Balotelli’s boss at Inter Milan, Jose Mourinho, sold him to City after dubbing him “unmanageable”.

Mancini added: “If Mario continues like this, I probably agree (with Jose). But I hope he can change.

“Mario is young, 22. He could be my son. Young people make mistakes and he has made a lot of them. I love him as a person – he is not a bad guy.

“I hope he can change – for himself, not for me. If he wants to improve his life he must change.

“I have seen players with huge talent finish after two or three years (because of their problems).

“If I had seen the challenge he made on Song I would have taken him off. He should have been sent off for it.”

City now trail leaders United by eight points. But Mancini insists the title race is not yet over.

He said: “It’s more difficult, but all my life I’ve said that until you can’t mathematically win it, you keep playing.”

Delighted Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said: “We have taken 24 points from 27 and improved as a team.

“Unfortunately, we started from too deep. We had a blip in January that cost us severely.”